I'm surprised at how low this movie's rating is on here. It's a well-made and very interesting film.
Yes, of course, it is pure propaganda. It whitewashes the atrocities of Stalin's Soviet Union almost completely to convince Americans that the USSR was a good ally. As, in fact, it was during the war, if not, of course, after the war. The picture it paints of Russia bears little resemblance to reality.
But look at the picture it paints of the U.S. in 1940 and 1941 before Pearl Harbor. Isolationists in Congress who impeded Roosevelt's efforts to rearm the nation for a conflict that anyone but a fool should have seen coming.
Yes, this movie glorifies Ambassador Davis. But, as it shows, too many Americans were isolationists, and they needed to be convinced, over and over again, that we could not remain isolationists and survive.
Walter Huston gives a great performance here as Davis. Whether the real Davis was as blind to Russia's failings as the character in the movie, I can't say. But this movie gives a powerfully accurate picture of why World War II took place, how it could have been avoided, and why appeasement never works.
There are still lessons to be learned from this movie.
Yes, of course, it is pure propaganda. It whitewashes the atrocities of Stalin's Soviet Union almost completely to convince Americans that the USSR was a good ally. As, in fact, it was during the war, if not, of course, after the war. The picture it paints of Russia bears little resemblance to reality.
But look at the picture it paints of the U.S. in 1940 and 1941 before Pearl Harbor. Isolationists in Congress who impeded Roosevelt's efforts to rearm the nation for a conflict that anyone but a fool should have seen coming.
Yes, this movie glorifies Ambassador Davis. But, as it shows, too many Americans were isolationists, and they needed to be convinced, over and over again, that we could not remain isolationists and survive.
Walter Huston gives a great performance here as Davis. Whether the real Davis was as blind to Russia's failings as the character in the movie, I can't say. But this movie gives a powerfully accurate picture of why World War II took place, how it could have been avoided, and why appeasement never works.
There are still lessons to be learned from this movie.